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NEW YORK CITY — Police have arrested a suspect in the killing of a female passenger by setting her on fire on a New York City subway train Sunday morning, according to police.
Around 7:30 a.m. ET, a man, who police believe is about 25 to 30 years old, approached the victim on a stationary F train car and intentionally set her on fire before fleeing the scene, New York police detective Austin Glickman told CNN.
Police officers conducting a routine patrol at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn encountered the victim on fire inside a subway car, Glickman said.
Officials extinguished the fire, and emergency medical services responded to the scene and pronounced the female dead, according to the detective.
Police are investigating the incident as a homicide, Glickman said.
The NYPD previously sought the public's help to find the suspect, described as a male who is about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and 150 pounds, according to a police news release. The suspect was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, a dark-colored knit hat with a red band and brown boots, the release said.
Identifying information about the victim is not yet available, Glickman said.
No other passengers or first responders were injured in the incident, police said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday announced efforts to bolster subway safety ahead of the holidays, deploying an additional 250 National Guard members to New York City and ensuring every subway car was outfitted with security cameras.
Hochul's office says crime is down 10% since the governor announced a subway safety plan in May and 42% since January 2021, though a number of high-profile violent incidents in the subway system in recent years have left some residents uneasy.
The city was under a "Code Blue" alert Saturday night, when additional resources and shelter were deployed to help those vulnerable to freezing temperatures, especially homeless people, who sometimes seek shelter on the subway system during severe weather.
